Opponent Within
by Smoky
Summary: l/j, love/hate, prolly not much good but plz r&r and i'll try to make it better


**DISCLAIMER** As always, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except for Acaila. You know the drill! If you find any references to songs then they belong to the respective singer/songwriters who should be mentioned somewhere…  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
James crouched behind a rusty suit of armour. His heart was hammering hard in his chest, but the grin stayed on his face nevertheless. He listened closely and soon heard footsteps pass his statue. He sunk back further into the shadows.  
  
There was a brief moment of silence, then a great thump and a splatter. From the sounds of things, Amos Diggory had fallen right over their invisible trap and broken his nose. Right on target.  
  
Across the corridor from James, Sirius burst into giggles behind his statue. James caught his eye, winked, and motioned to him to go. They snuck down the staircase and exploded into howling laughter as they neared the bottom landing.  
  
'Hah!! That stupid idiot! He falls for it every time!'  
  
'Yeah…' James looked back up through the stairs and saw that Amos' fan club had come to his aid, swooning over him and trying to get close to him by fixing him up. If Amos sustained so much as a tiny scrape, the girls flocked around him like there was no tomorrow.  
  
'Hey, look.' said Sirius, nudging him. 'Nurse Evans.'  
  
The red-haired kitty Lily Evans was joining the cluster around Amos. She cut through the flock and dabbed his nose with a cotton ball. They smiled at each other.  
  
Watching her, James felt his stomach curl over out of want or jealousy. What wouldn't I give to have a girl like that, he thought. Lily was always there to baby-sit Amos, but she was too good for the likes of him.  
  
He shook himself. Amos and Lily were only good for playing pranks on.  
  
Later that evening the Marauders were toasting marshmallows and trolls by the fire. James stared morbidly into the bright flames, considering the pranks they'd pulled today. It had been pretty good – they'd managed to get Lily Evans soaked in bathwater, place cockroaches in Dumbledore's dinner soup and of course there was Amos who'd broken his conk. He zoomed back to the present as Peter poked him hurriedly on his left shoulder.  
  
'Wha—?'  
  
The portrait hole swung open. James felt his tongue sour as first appeared the figure of Nurse Evans flanked closely by Pretty-Boy Diggory.  
  
'You!' James snapped sourly. 'What are you doing in our common room?!'  
  
Lily gave him a scandalizing look. 'He's had a bit of an injury so I'm keeping him here for a while. He needs my care.'  
  
'He doesn't belong here! He could be a spy! Get him out of here!'  
  
'No, no, you don't understand.' Lily looked down on them as she would look at five-year-olds. 'He might have had a break in that nose. It's not just a little nosebleed, you know.'  
  
All this while Amos just stood there staring stupidly at them with his mouth hanging open and his nose plastered white.  
  
'Let the bugger speak for himself, will you.' snarled James. 'You are a fifth-year. A *fifth* year! Can't you take care of yourself?!'  
  
'It hurts.' Amos mumbled.  
  
While the others were trying to stare down Diggory, James glared at Lily. 'You unwashed peanut-brain Evans, you! Why don't you just take your beloved Diggo down some ditch in the grounds and you can snog all you like!'  
  
Lily blushed. 'I – I didn't bring him here to … to do dirty things!'  
  
'As if you didn't. I know what you're about, Evans, you're just doing this so you can keep him near you!'  
  
'Shut up!' Lily cried, her cheeks bright pink. Remus threw a piece of hot coal at her which left a small red burn mark on her arm. 'EEK!! I hate you! I hope you're glad for the few minutes of my life that you've just wasted!'  
  
'Oh, I am!' James called after her as she scurried off with Amos. 'And I hate you too! Boy, what a suck-up,' he muttered to Sirius once she was out of sight. Sirius just shrugged, which irritated him more. He turned determinedly back to the roasting marshmallows, now charcoal black and crumbling off the end of his poker stick.  
  
'Damn!!'  
  
That night, the Amos-and-Lily incident kept bugging James. He turned over in his bed but could not sleep as you often can't sleep when you think too much.  
  
Why does everyone hang around that loser Diggory? he wondered, with the picture in his mind of Lily wiping Amos' nose. Why does Lily keep coming back to him? He is SUCH a little baby. He pictured Amos in Lily's bed. Why…? What's he got that I don't?  
  
James punched his pillow angrily. He tried not to be jealous of Lily's obvious attachment to Diggory. They were both only punching bags for his pranks. Besides, he hated Lily.  
  
He rolled over and buried his head under the blankets. Lily Evans has a nice butt… – No, she doesn't!  
  
'Lily Evans is NOT hot.' he said firmly to himself. 'Repeat. I repeat. Lily Evans is NOT hot!!'  
  
Sirius, in the next bed, gave a snort of laughter. James looked over at him but Sirius quickly began snoring. He let out a huge sigh and went back to staring at the ceiling.  
  
'Lily Evans is not hot.' He began to fall into a sleepy daze. 'Lily Evans is not hot. Lily Evans is not… is… is hot…'  
  
The next morning Sirius greeted him at the breakfast table with a shrill giggle. James frowned at him.  
  
'What's up with you Siri? Giggling like a girl!' [AN: hehe… it's a deja vu! (personal joke)]  
  
Before he could reply, there was a 'And what would *you* know about girls, Potty?'  
  
He swivelled around but knew who it was without even looking. 'More than *you'd* know… that is, if you can actually be classified as a girl!'  
  
Lily put her hands on her hips and looked cranky but already James' Marauder friends were laughing and pointing. She stalked off in a Malfoy manner, to sit beside her friend Acaila at the other end of the Gryffindor table.  
  
James' stomach wriggled as he watched her go, thinking back to last night. "Lily Evans is NOT hot…"  
  
'James? Er – Jamesie?'  
  
'W-w-what?'  
  
'You're staring at Lily again, aren't you!'  
  
'No I am NOT!' He threw a dripping pancake at Sirius, who giggled and ducked. The pancake flew past him and hit Lily square in the bottom.  
  
'See?' Sirius chortled. 'That just proves my point, you were goggling at her butt weren't you? And you were aiming!'  
  
'—At you, you dirty little maggot!' But at that moment he copped a faceful of eggyolk as Lily had just come up behind him, very red-faced and angry. The people all around her at the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables were pointing at her pancake-smeared bottom and laughing.  
  
'You will pay for this James Potter! I swear I'll not rest till I see unholy vengeance exacted upon your head!'  
  
James, steamed up because of his friends insults and the sticky egg in his face, poured his orange juice on Lily's hair and in a moment food was flying. Peter, Remus and Sirius joined in for James as did Acaila for Lily, throwing their breakfast and other peoples' breakfast across the room. Before long half the school was pelting food across the Great Hall and no- one could see who or what they were hitting, they just thought it was a great diversion.  
  
Dumbledore appeared suddenly in the entrance to the Great Hall. He hurried across to the trestle tables, waddling and puffing. Halfway there he tripped across his beard and fell flat on his face, cursing. He stepped right into the middle of the mess, waving his wand and screaming above the screaming. The slops vanished in an instant and all that was left was a hall full of dirty students.  
  
'Enough! I am ashamed of you. Well since you look like you don't want to eat anymore food then off with you! Go on, get out! First lesson will start in half an hour!' Slowly all the students shuffled out hanging their heads and some grumbling. Dumbledore pulled back Lily and James as they were about to leave.  
  
'Just a second you two, where do you think you're going?' He stared hard at both of them. James avoided Lily's eyes. 'You have a reputation for being the worst enemies in the school I know, but I cannot allow you to do ridiculous things like this again in the future! Please if you cannot control your anger then stay away from each other. Now get out and get clean.'  
  
James clumped off in one direction and Lily in another. He turned around and saw that she was looking back at him. He poked his tongue out at her, pulling a face but his mouth soon melted into a little shy grin. She stuck her finger up, grinning naughtily. He turned back to the door determined to ignore Lily, but he couldn't deny that the morning had been pretty funny and fun and actually quite satisfying.  
  
The Marauders were waiting for James out in the corridor. Sirius was snickering.  
  
'You're – you're – you're – you're BUSTED!' he sang to the tune of "Busted" by Joanne.  
  
Remus gave him a big nudge. 'Shut up, Siri. So, Jamesie what happened?'  
  
'Nothing,' said James quickly as he saw Lily walking nearby. 'Let's go and have a bath.'  
  
'Eww James!!' said Peter, taking James' words the wrong way.  
  
'Nuhhhhh, Peter,' James drawled sarcastically, keeping his eye on Lily's figure in the near distance. 'Let's all go have a nice hot bath… together!'  
  
'Eww!! Gross! Yick!! Grotty!!'  
  
It took James a few moments to notice their expressions and realise that they thought he was serious. 'Jeez, people, that was sarcasm! I didn't make that joke anyway, you sick-minded morons.'  
  
Sirius punched him lightly, unwisely provoking him. 'Well, you and Lily could go—'  
  
'Will you shut up Sirius!' he screamed. 'I DON'T like LILY!!! I DO NOT! PERIOD!'  
  
The others giggled quietly as Lily, not far away, turned and stared at him strangely.  
  
'You see, James old boy? You don't want to say anything in front of your girlfriend—'  
  
James' face went red and steam came out of his ears, and Sirius instantly knew he'd gone too far. [AN: line poss. from JK Rowling?] But just as he ducked to avoid being hit, James puffed hard and just stared at him and shrugged. 'Let's just go. I've made enough of a fool of myself for this morning.'  
  
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'This afternoon we're going to be learning an enchantment that causes most living things to involuntarily sing. Now don't you take this charm lightly,' Professor Moulten said sternly as some of the class started laughing. 'It can easily become a very deadly curse if you say the words even the slightest bit incorrectly. Now 'I'm going to split you into pairs and I'll teach you the charm, then I'll give each pair a little squirrel on which to practise.'  
  
James turned around in his seat. 'Hey Siri, I'll go with you huh?'  
  
'AHEM.' Professor Moulten cleared his throat. 'I believe I am the one splitting you into pairs. Potter, come over here, you're with Miss Evans.'  
  
'What?!'  
  
'You heard me, Potter.'  
  
'Remus, I can't work with Lily!' hissed James.  
  
He grumpily dumped his bag and books at Lily's table without looking at her. The teacher was splitting up the rest of the class. Finally James turned and glared at Lily. She glared back at him with a look that would have baked muffins.  
  
'What's your problem?'  
  
'You, you stupid bitch. How am I supposed to work with you?' He felt very sour. Maybe he was mistaken in thinking that Lily enjoyed the food fight.  
  
For a moment it looked like she was going to cry. Then she slapped him around the face and turned back to her table. He felt a bit cowed at this and played with his fingers until Professor Moulten threw a squirrel onto their desk and told them to start practising.  
  
Lily and James stared at the squirrel. Its beady black eyes were bulging out of its furry brown head.  
  
'Well?' said Lily after a long silence. The anger had worn off.  
  
'Well what?'  
  
'Aren't we supposed to… practice?'  
  
James gave her a weird side-stare. 'I… wasn't listening. I don't know how to. Maybe you can show me.'  
  
Lily looked deep into his eyes. 'You really want me to?'  
  
'Oh, yes…'  
  
'Very well then.' She drew out her wand and waved it at the squirrel. 'Vokalus euphoni provokus!' Instantly the little critter stood on its hind legs and belted out a merry rendition of Nikki Webster's Strawberry Kisses..  
  
Lily turned, grinning breathlessly, to James. 'C'mon you great big galoot, try it.'  
  
But James hadn't been listening. His mind was spinning. Lily Evans is hot… But she's your enemy! You can't fall in love with the enemy! He shook his head. She's *not* my enemy, I just play pranks on her that's all. But she's hot… Then he heard his own voice speak.  
  
'Well I don't feel that way about her!'  
  
'Huh?' Lily looked at him, confused.  
  
'Oh, oh, nothing.' He blushed when he realised what he'd said. He pulled out his wand quickly and pointed it at the squirrel. 'So, er, what was it? Um… Vandalus excruciati provokus!'  
  
'NO JAMES!!' screamed Lily. 'Stop! Those aren't the words!! And Professor Moulten said—!'  
  
But it was too late. James swished his wand and a jet of blinding light shot out of the end. The force tore the wand out of his hands.  
  
'Run!!' yelled the Professor, and students scattered as the beam of light ricocheted off the walls, leaving flaming scorch marks. It crackled ominously.  
  
'Oh God Lily Evans get away! Now!'  
  
Lily was frozen in fear. James was lying on the floor knocked back by the force of the light. His wand lay on the floor inches away.  
  
'Listen to me Miss Evans! The light!'  
  
She looked up in horror and saw that the beam was pelting straight towards James' head.  
  
'Run!! Now!!!'  
  
Her ears were pounding as she stared down at James lying helpless on the ground. There was no denying she hated him for some things, but did it really go this far? She aimed her wand with a shaking hand.  
  
'No Lily, you can't…!'  
  
'I can't…' Lily whispered. The beam roared towards them, swelling to the size of a fireball and shrieking like a banshee. She screamed as the light blinded her eyes.  
  
Her head exploded with pain for a few impossible moments, before she fell mercifully into deep black silence.  
  
  
  
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AN: ugh! too long What did you guys think? Please review for me! Flame or not, I don't care.  
  
Hmm… maybe next chapter I'll try to get more of Lily's thoughts on the situation, and perhaps even a plot!! (gasp!) Yeah, that'll be the day.  
  
cyaz l8r! 


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